Car wheel and hub cap therefor



Nov. 1s, 1924. 6 1,516,066

F. B. THOMAS CAR WHEEL AND HUB CAP THEREFOR F11-led March 22, 1924 Patented Non, i8, i924,

FRANKLN B. THOMAS, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

CAR WHEEL .AND HUB CAP THEREFOR.

Application filed IVIarch 22, 1924. Serial No. 701,116.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN B. THOMAS,

a citizen ot the United States, and a. resident of the city and county of Denver, and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Wheels and Hub Caps Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in car wheels and hub caps therefor, and particularly embodies a novelly coacting protective cap :tor the hub of the wheel, assoeiated with the open end of the hub in such a manner as to be retained in detachably interlccked association therewith, whereby the bearings and lubricating reservoir of the wheel are protected against the admission o1p4 dust, grit or other foreign substances.

While the invention has been perfected with more especial reference to mine car work, where much dust and loose foreign substances are encountered, it is nevertheless to be understood that the invention is not necessarily to be restricted in use to any one particular field, but may likewise be employed, where feasible, in analogous or ether equivalent relations. For simplicity of illustration and brevity of description, however, l will disclose the improvements with more particular reference to mine car wheels, but with the understanding that this is done without imposing any limitations thereon as to the spheres of usefulness, or as to whether the improvements be applied in connection with an actual mine car or other type of wheel.

These mine car wheels as a rule are rotatably mounted upon the end portions of a rigidly iixed axle, suitable antitriction bearings being interposed therebetween, andV the outer end ot the hub o'f the wheel provides for a lubricant or grease chamber that supplies the said bearings, as is well understood. In some types of these wheels the outer hub end is closed by an integrally termed head, which is not always most desirable, but when the outer hub end is normally formed open and is closed by a dust and dirt excluding cap, which is then necessary, a common objection thereto is that the cap works loose, or elements securing the same work loose, whereupon the cap drops ofi" and is lost.

lt has heretofore been proposed, theretore, to bolt the hub cap in place by a series or' bolts extending longitudinally within the hub body, or to otherwise secure the cap by .fastening means which are neither a part ot the cap nor the hub proper, and all of which entails the use of additional parts, causes substantial expense, and resultsin considerable loss of time in assembling.

Accordingly., the primary object of. myl invention has been to devise simple, effective and economical meansavoiding the `use of bolts or other extra separate parts liable to become dislodged, for detachably but securely maintaining the hub cap in place, and with these prefacing remarks reference will now be immediately had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot this disclosure and illustrating a practical embodiment of the improvements, in which drawingsf F igure l is a longitudinal sectional view through a mine car wheel with its hub cap attached, as mounted on an aXle end, embodying and illustrating the application or my improvements; Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2 ot Figure l; Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View, analogous to Figure 2, buttaken on the line 3e-3 otl Figure l; and Figure l is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, analogous to Figure l, showingthe adaptation ot the improvements with a slightly different form of hub cap.

The numeral 5 designates a'carV wheel, of. the mine car type, the hub section Got which provides for an axial bore 7 that opens to an enlarged annular lubricant reservoir chamber 8, formed at the outer end of the hub by the annular rim extension 9, which latter is open at its outer end and may be internally threaded7 for a suitable distance, as indicated at 10.

The axle is designated at l1, the end portions of which axle are encompassed by suitable antilriction bearing elements, shown as roller bearings l2, contained within the axial bore i', and end steel washers or spacing rings therefor are indicated at 13.

l posed series ol? spaced lugs 21.

The construction also shows a washer 1d, ol felt or other suitable material, to prevent the lubricant from working out of and escaping from the inner end of the hub bore.

15 designates a replaceable wear ring or larger washer for the aXle end, which wear ring is adapted at its inner face to seat up against the annular face 16, of the shoulder formed between the axial bore 7 and the annular rim extension 9., and the outer tace of said wear ring is engaged by a cutter pin 17 passing through the axle end, by means of all of which the mounting or" the wheels will' be clearly understood'.

The annular rim 9, or peripheral wall of they lubricant. reservoir chamber 8, is prov'i-dfed with a plurality or radial threaded openings, two being actually shown and illustrated as being d-iametrically opposed, whereby thecotter pin 17 may be 'facilely reached, the said openings being adapted to receive the threaded plug closures 18, and through which openings the lesired lubricant is customarily introduced, into the chamber 8 for tillingup the saine, byy means off a grease gun.

1With my particular improvements, these closure plugs 18" are made long enough to project` at their inner ends substantialily within the reservoir chamber 8, and they therebyy additionally function further as limiting meansv or interlockingv stops, as will hereinafter appear, to: interlock the hub cap with the hubV rim 9, andv detachably maintainthe sameV against independent or relative rotation.

At Figures l and 2, the said hub or dust cap is shown simplya periphera-llj,r threaded dislt closure 19, with a wrench pl'ying boss 2() projecting from .its o.' 'afce but on` its inner face it is provided with a plurality or series of equidistantly spaced and circuI-nlterentiallyv disposed lugs 2T, six being, shown onv the drawings, and the spa-ces` between these lugs should be slightly greater than the diameter of the iirvi'aircllyf` projecting ends of the closure plugs-:18, to' rovide a clearance space to receive the said plug ends between a coniplfementary pair thereof;

Figures 3 and l differ from Figures l and 22 in that the hub rim 9, instead oi beifngi internally threaded as at l0, is in fact externally threaded as at 22 to receive th'ej internally threaded flange or rim 23 of a modified form ot hub cap 2li', the inner face ofwh-ich may be annularly recessed, as-

at 25, to form its inturned flange or rim 23. The inner face ot` the modified forni of hub ca-p disk 24', however, is` providedv as heretofore with the circumferentially dis- ()l' course the same idea would be involved if' the disk cap 24 were not so thick, or in other Words that its central portion be chambered out to the depth of the annular recess. 25, providing for a thin disk simply with its encompassing inturned rim 28, although in such event the lugs 21 would have to be made slightly longer to project into the path or Zone of the plugs 18. This modilied torni ot hub cap 2li is also shown with paired sockets 26, formed in its outer face, for the application ont a Spanner wrench or tool, which feature could be analogously supplied on the huh cap 19, of Figures 1 and 2, in substitution for the boss 20,y and vice versa.

The drawings show the threaded plugs 18' of taKA ering standard form, although they could be cylindrical, and when so tapering it might be more advantageous to omit the threads from the extreme lower peripheral tace, or that portion which projects into the reservoir cliainberV 8, whereby a smooth conical surface would be provided to function as a rotary wedge, for engaging an adjacent beveled tace oli one; of the lugs- 2'1, and thus turn the hub cap slightly in the event that' the space, between a comT plenientary set of the paired lugs, is not exactly aligned relaiivelyV to the plug. However, the cap could be suitablyl marked to indicatek when the clearance space, be-- tween the paired; lugs, properly registers relatively to a plug 18. Also, while l have shown a pair lof dia-metrically opposed plugs- 18, and which may be:` preteralilef, theY im` provements would neverthelesssuccessfully operate if one or even more than twoy of such plugs were employed. l?uri'ih-erniore` the p i less `Ynumber than as actuallyl shown, dependent largely upon theA diameter of' the plugs 18, theY essentialfeature`w being that the clearance space between the pairedv lugs` i should be of appropr` 'e dimensions to properlyreceive aL plug' 1'8"- therebetween;

lilrom allY of the foregoing it will be obvious that, in assembling, the hub cap is threaded to the rim:4 9' when the inner ends of the plugs 18'- are withdrawn from the chamber 8, and that upon screwing home the hub cap, with complementary setsof the paired lugs 21 properly loca-ted relatively to their plugs 18, then the plugs 18 may like-wise be screwedY uptiightly, to

cause their inner` projected endstok enter the clearance space between their coni-plementa'ry paired lugs which, being disposed' in the path or zone of the said' plugs, o`bviously prevents the rotation of'the-` hub cap, and the latter is thereby interlfoclted with the hub rim 9 by means of a plugor plugs 18l coacting with complementary paired? lugs-21.

l/Vith the circumferentially disposed series.Y

ot equidistantly spaced lugsl on the hubA ed lugs 211 could be of aY greater or cap, it will be apparent that one of the aforesaid clearance spaces, for'the reception of a plug 18, will be formed between each lug 21 and the immediately preceding and succeeding lugs of the series, so that when the hub cap is screwed up substantially home, it may still be turned slightly one way or the other, causing one or more of said clearanceJ spaces, dependent upon the number of plugs employed, to be facile positioned for receiving its complementary plug, whereafter only a very limited and negligible circumferential play of the hub cap would be permitted, if there be any such play at all.

l/Vhile my improved means, of detachably but positively securing the hub cap against displacement, may not appear to be an invention of major magnitude, still it does away with all extra separate parts, and the full advantages of the improvements will be and have already been largely recognized by those cognizant of the needs of the mining industry especially.

Having thus completely disclosed my improvements, and the functioning thereof, what l claim as new and patentable isz- 1. The combination of a wheel having an annular hub extension that is open at its outer end and forms a lubricant reservoir chamber with a peripheral inlet o-pening thereto, a detachable plug for said inlet opening of sufficient length to project within said chamber, and a hub cap for threaded attachment to said annular extension to close said outer open end thereof, which hub cap is provided with a suitably spaced pair of lugs for extending within said chamber, in association with said inlet opening, to receive the projected end of said plug therebetween.

2. The combination of a wheel having an annular hub extension that is open at its outer end and forms a lubricant reservoir chamber with a peripheral inlet opening thereto, a detachable plug for said inlet opening of suflicient length to project within said chamber, and a hub cap for.

threaded attachment to said annular extension to close said open outer end therecap for threaded attachment to 4said annular extension to close said open outer end thereof, which hub cap is provided with a circumferentially disposed series of suitably spaced lugs for extending Within said Achamber with a peripheral inlet opening thereto, a detachable plug for said inlet opening of sufficient length to project Within said chamber, and a hub cap for threaded attachment to said annular extension to close said open outer end thereof, which hub cap is provided with a circumferentially disposed series of equidistantly spaced lugs for extending within said chamber, in complementally paired association with said inlet opening when turned to that position, to receive the projected end of said plug therebetween.

5. The combination of a wheel having an annular hub extension that is open at its outer end and forms a lubricant reservoir chamber with a plurality of peripheral inlet openings thereto, detachable plugsl for said inlet openings of sufiicient length to project within said chamber, and a hub cap for threaded attachment to said yannular Iextension to close said open outer end thereof, which hub cap is provided with a circumferentially disposed series of equidistantly sp-aced lugs for extending within said chamber, in complementally paired association with said inlet openings when turned to the positions thereof, to respectively receive the projected ends of said plugs therebetween.

6. The combination of a wheel having an annular hub extension that is open at its outer end and forms a lubricant reservoir chamber with a peripheral inlet opening thereto, a detachable plug for said inlet opening of sufficient length to project within said chamber, and a hub cap for threaded attachment to said annular extension to close said open outer end thereof, which hub cap is provided with suitable means for interlocking connection with the projected end of said plug when said hub cap is screwed home and the said plug proj ected within said chamber.

7. The combination with `a non-rotatable axle, of a mining car wheel rotatably mounted in antifriction relation thereon, the hub lsection of said wheel having an enlarged annular extension, open at its outer end and at its inner end forming an annular shoulder face with said hub section,

which said annular extension provides for @mi isnl'et opening thmeto', wenn" ring:

- of smid. wear: 11mg being aisscadzed with sagd: annularshoufldfemf facie; a, plug; for

th-Liezd'ug through; sad inlet opening, and, a bzublmsmfef. ca-pf for threaded anttachment.-

to said annulafrf exteifvsiqn, which said hub cap is' provided Wirth sutasbef means im ntelflockiuag: connection with said? plug; when safiid; cap asu-d finally said' plu-'g are sere-Wed up homeztune.

FRANKLIN B. THGMAS; 

